


stop laughing (laffin')

by damnmysterytome



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, drunken kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 06:00:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6411712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damnmysterytome/pseuds/damnmysterytome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before they go to the table, Karen and Frank stop by the bar to get a drink – and Karen slips the bartender what Frank thinks is a twenty dollar bill from her bra. “Hi, I’m Karen, this is my boyfriend, Frank.” She explains, putting on her best voice. Karen knows how to get exactly what she wants – and Frank is often in awe of it. “He’ll have a whiskey with two ice cubes, and I will have a vodka martini. Whenever you see either one of us, if we don’t have a drink in our hands – refill it. Okay?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	stop laughing (laffin')

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Frank asks after Karen slams her coffee cup on the table again. Coffee slops over the edge of the cup, again, and she curses under her breath picks up napkins to clean it up. She’s done it five times now and each time it gains the attention of the people around them and annoys Frank.

“Nothing.” Karen mumbles as she grumbles up the coffee covered napkins and tosses them to the side.

Frank scoffs and leans back in the booth he’s sitting in across from her and shakes his head. Their Saturday morning coffee dates have been going on for months and every time she’s in a good mood, until now. “Ma'am, don’t take this the wrong way, but your resting bitch face has never looked more intimidating than today.” Frank grins at Karen the way he only grins at her and it’s hard for Karen to glare.

Karen narrows her eyes at Frank and flicks a used sugar packet in his direction. “Shut up, Frank.” She grumbles. It’s a few minutes before she speaks again. “My cousin invited me to her wedding and … First, I hate weddings. So much. And… My family is going to do nothing but ask me why I’m still single. Why aren’t I getting married? Why am I so focused on work? Why don’t I have kids? Will I ever have kids? But I can’t not not go to her wedding, because not going is rude.”

“I’ll go with you.” The offer surprises both of them but it’s too late for Frank to take it back and Karen looks up at him with her eyes widen. “If you want.”

Karen doesn’t know what to make of his offer but she licks her lips and bites the inside of her cheek. “Do you want to go? Or is it just so I’ll stop pouting?”

Frank smiles a little bit, bringing a hand up to his face to scratch at his jaw. “A bit of both.”

* * *

 

Karen steps out of the bathroom in the hotel room in her dress, the same light purple dress that she’s worn to the last four or five weddings she’s been to. She’s gained weight so the dress is tighter than it used to be and she’s a little insecure about it. But it’s the only dress she brought with her.

“How do I look?” Frank looks up at the sound of her voice and the toothpick he’s been chewing on to calm his nerves falls out of his mouth as he takes in the sight of her. He’s always thought she was beautiful but this was the first time he’s ever seen her in something like this. “Frank?”

“Beautiful.” He murmurs and Karen’s page lights up and reddens, turning away from him. Frank stands from the bed and smooths out the jacket of the suit he’s wearing. It’s a cheap suit and suddenly it doesn’t feel like it’s good enough.

Karen takes a few steps over to him and reaches up to adjust his white dress shirt, remembering the last time he was in a suit. She picked it out for him and brought it to the courthouse – and she’s never mentioned that it cost her more than she could afford and was the last of her rainy day fund. “You look nice. And thanks for not getting any new bruises.” She teases and brings her hand up to his face. There’s a scar under his cheek bone, but besides that his face is completely clear of any bruise or cut.

Frank had taken time off to make sure he’d look nice for the wedding. “Don’t mention it.” He mumbles as Karen pulls her hand from his face. “Ready to go?” He asks.

“As ready as I’m ever going to be. Now remember, you are not the Punisher today. You are Frank Castle. We met when I interviewed you for an article for the Bulletin.” Karen says as she walks away from him to put on her heels and grab her purse. Her heels are black and they give her four inches. Of course, she’s taller than him now. “How long have we been dating?” She asks, testing Frank as he follows her to the door.

Karen came up with a complicated back story for the two of them, of course she did. “Four months, right?”

“Four months.” Karen smiles and opens the door to their hotel room and leaves.

* * *

Frank and Karen sit in three rows back on the left, hidden just enough that no one will really notice them but close enough to the front that they are noticed by Karen’s family. She sees one of her cousins give her a thumbs up at the sight of Frank. It brings a smile on her face and embarrasses Frank – which is only a plus.

“They like you without even talking to you,” Karen grins, her hand wrapping around his forearm. Her fingers don’t even touch around his arm. Frank shrugs and adjusts a bit in his seat, tugging on his jacket. She can tell how nervous he is – and Karen feels really lucky that he’d put himself through this just for her.

“If only they knew I’m not actually your-” Karen lifts her finger and presses it to his lips.

“Shh, you never know who’s spying.” She said softly. It takes her a minute to pull her finger away from his lips, letting out a soft laugh to cut the awkwardness of the situation.

There are eyes on them all the way until people start sitting down for the wedding, and Frank is never more thankful for a wedding to start.

The ceremony isn’t very long, it lasts probably forty five minutes. When Karen sniffles while her cousin and her wife are reading their vows, Frank’s arm comes around Karen and he tugs her close. Karen puts her head on his shoulder without thinking – only to realize what she’s doing a few minutes later. She doesn’t move though, at least not until they’re on their feet applauding the newly married couple.

* * *

“We are at this table, table 10.” Karen says, looking through the seating cart that’s sitting on a podium. It’s put on a poster by the Karen Page & Frank Castle, table ten. She smiles at how their names look next to each other, picking up the pen and initialing the line next to it for the both of them. She reaches back and grasps Frank’s and pulls him into the dinner hall.

Before they go to the table, Karen and Frank stop by the bar to get a drink – and Karen slips the bartender what Frank thinks is a twenty dollar bill from her bra. “Hi, I’m Karen, this is my boyfriend, Frank.” She explains, putting on her best voice. Karen knows how to get exactly what she wants – and Frank is often in awe of it. “He’ll have a whiskey with two ice cubes, and I will have a vodka martini. Whenever you see either one of us, if we don’t have a drink in our hands – refill it. Okay?”

The bartender takes the twenty dollar bill from Karen, and like he didn’t even hear the part about her having a boyfriend, flirts with her openly while making both of their drinks. Karen hands the other drink to Frank as she sips her own drink, waving a goodbye to the bartender.

“Ma'am, you are a force of fucking nature.” He said to her. Karen grinned and leaned forward to press her lips against Frank’s cheek.

They find the table easily and Karen introduces him to some of her family members. Her uncle, Todd, and his wife Nancy, their twelve year daughter Susy, her cousin on her fathers side Mary and her boyfriend Steve.

“Where did you guys meet?” Nancy asks, leaning over to make sure that Frank and Karen can meet them.

“Work.” Karen explains, pressing her hand over Frank’s. “I interviewed Frank for an article I was working on at the Bulletin,” Not entirely a lie. “and he took me out for coffee.” Also not entirely a lie. Frank turns his hand over and laces his fingers through Karen’s.

“I don’t deserve her.” Frank looks at Karen with a look that causes Karen’s breath to catch in her throat and she doesn’t know what to say except to lean over and kiss his cheek again. He’s playing a role, she knows he doesn’t mean it. But still, it’s sweet.

* * *

The bartender sticks to their deal and keeps the both of them stocked in drinks, and by the sixth drink Frank’s on, he’s drunker than he’s been in a long time. Karen leaves him for a minute to go to the bathroom and by the time she comes back he’s gone from the table and is on the dance floor. He can’t dance, but he’s having the time of his life. Karen doesn’t think she could have ever seen him look happy – even if it’s fueled by alcohol. After recording a video of it on her phone to use for blackmail – and to show Foggy and Matt when they get home, Karen drowns the rest of her martini and joins him on the dance floor.

* * *

  
Frank and Karen can barely walk on their own by the time they head back to their hotel, her heels are in Frank’s hands after she fell over in the lobby. He offered to carry her, but Karen stomped her foot and insisted, ‘no, I can walk on my own’. Karen won’t stop laughing at everything Frank says, he’s slurring and he’s not making sense. Every time she laughs at him, Frank tries to glare at her but ends up looking like a lovesick puppy.

“Stop laughing at me!” He exclaims, although it comes out slurred and more like he’s Daffy Duck than he’s the Punisher.

It makes Karen laugh harder and she stumbles towards Frank, her hands taking handfuls of his jacket. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laff at you.” She breaks into loud giggling again, pressing her head against his shoulder.

“See if I ever do you a favor again.” He mumbles.

Karen pouts, lifts her head and presses her forehead against Frank’s temple. “I’m sorry, do you want to Punish me, Punisher?” There’s something in her tone that drives Frank absolutely fucking crazy and his mouth is on hers before she can start laughing again.

Frank backs her up against the elevator wall and pins her between the wall and his body, grunting in frustration when she starts laughing between each of his kisses. “Stop laughing.” He demands.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She says, but she doesn’t stop laughing, even as she presses her lips repeatedly into Frank’s.

They both know that the only reason they’re standing in the elevator kissing is the alcohol they’ve been drinking and the heat of the moment pretending to be dating. They both know they won’t remember in the morning. Neither of them can find it in them to care.

  
  


 


End file.
